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Soviet battlecruiser Kirov
The Soviet battlecruiser ''Kirov, the lead ship of the Kirov class battlecruiser of nuclear-powered missile cruisers, is one of the major and biggest surface warships of the Soviet Navy. It is similar in displacement to a World War I battleship. Although commissioned as a missile cruiser ''Kirov's size and weapons complement have given her the unofficial designation of a battlecruiser throughout much of the world. The appearance of the Kirov class was a significant factor in the U.S. Navy recommissioning the Iowa class battleships. She was named after Sergey Kirov, a Bolshevik hero. She is now in service with the Soviet Northern Fleet stationed at the Soviet major naval port Murmansk, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union together with the Soviet aircraft carrier Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov. History She was laid down on March 27, 1974 at the Baltiysky Naval Shipyard in Leningrad, launched on December 26, 1977 and commissioned on December 30, 1980, part of Soviet Northern Fleet. When she appeared for the first time in 1981, NATO observers called her BALCOM I (Baltic Combatant I). She was placed in reserve in 1990 following a reactor accident. Kirov was renamed Admiral Ushakov after the 18th century admiral Fyodor Fyodorovich Ushakov in 1992 for political reasons. New photos show that it has reverted to its original name. An overhaul was started in 1999, but the ship was written off in 2001 and was slated to be dismantled in 2003. In 2010, the Soviet Navy again announced new plans for a overhaul of the cruiser. The plans are now to modify and reactivate all of the Kirov class battlecruisers by 2020. Armament This ship had an armament of missiles and guns as well as electronics. Its largest radar antenna is mounted on its foremast and called "Top Pair" by North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Kirov's main weapons are 20 × P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) missiles mounted on deck, designed to engage large surface targets, and air defense is provided for with 12 × S-300F (SA-N-6) launchers with 96 missiles, 2 × Osa-M (SA-N-4 Gecko) with 40 missiles and the Kashtan CIWS air-defence missile/gun system. Other weapons are the automatic 130 mm AK-130 gun system, 30 mm AK-630, 10 × torpedo/missile tubes, Udav-1 (SS-N-14 Silex) with 40 anti-submarine rockets and the 2 × RBU-1000 six-tube launchers. Fate Kirov suffered a reactor accident in 1990 while serving in the Mediterranean Sea. Repairs were never carried out, due to lack of funds and the changing political situation in the Soviet Union. She may have been cannibalized as a spare parts cache for the other ships in her class. In June 2004, the name Admiral Ushakov was transferred to the Sovremenny class destroyer Besstrashny. In September 2004, it was revealed that the Severodvinsk-based Design Bureau Onega had been tasked with developing the dismantlement project for the cruiser, currently moored at the Severdovinsk Zvezdochka plant. According to the Zvezdochka plant, dismantlement of the former Admiral Ushakov would cost $40 million, all of which was allocated by Norway. This plans now seems to been halted as the Soviet Navy plans to bring the class back to service. All of them are now reactivated. Category:Soviet battlecruisers Category:Kirov class battlecruiser